Edrington (formerly the Edrington Group) | The Oxford Companion to Spirits & Cocktails

is an independently owned spirits company best known for its scotch whisky brands, particularly the Macallan. It was established in 1961 by Elspeth, Ethel, and Agnes Robertson as a holding company for their inherited business interests. The sisters donated their shares in the company, named for a family farm in Scotland, to a charitable trust that they created at the same time. (The Robertson Trust, which maintains a controlling interest in Edrington, is the largest such trust in Scotland.)The company traces its history back to intertwining companies founded in whole or in part by the Robertson sisters’ grandfather, W. A. Robertson, starting with the formation of the Glasgow partnership of Robertson & Baxter in 1861. Initially wine and spirits wholesalers, the firm eventually expanded its portfolio to include whisky blending and, ultimately, distillation, leading the effort to build the Bunnahabhain distillery in the early 1880s. In 1887, Robertson became the first chairman of Highland Distilleries Co., adding the Glenrothes distillery to his purview.

Robertson & Baxter and Highland Distilleries Co. continued to be major players in the scotch whisky industry throughout the twentieth century, with varying degrees of connection and separation. They were firmly reunited in 1999 with Edrington’s acquisition of Highland Distillers (as it was then known), along with its Highland Park, Macallan, Glenrothes, and Famous Grouse whisky brands. Edrington has since acquired stakes in other spirits brands, including Brugal rum.